The U.S. went from being an experiment in democracy and a colonial backwater during the 18th century, to the most technologically advanced and industrialized country in the world in the 20th century, with this incredible transformation occurring because of those who founded the country and their understanding that the U.S. could not farm its way to wealth, with innovation being encouraged and promoted. Because of this simple yet novel idea, ordinary people suddenly had the opportunity to invent and make life easier for society at large, and were incentivized to profit from these ideas because of patent protection. The Americans developed a system in which new ideas were sought after because they were profitable which is a much more powerful motivational factor than prestige alone or the will and desire to help the greater collective of civilization. It’s not that the U.S. population is more creative than other nations, rather it is because the U.S. government actively decided to back and support those who pursued invention by providing them with a high probability to a path of moderate to substantial fortune. Protecting invention is single handedly one of the most important and influential ideas which has ever developed within the U.S., and even during the modern era, countries which fail to inspire innovation and protect it from theft and exploitation, continue to play catch up with industrialized nations who do reward and promote innovation